CSA Week 20 - October 14th - greens spätzli with sage and bacon

I picked up Jenn Louis's book, Pasta by Hand, from the library last week. It's the same book that this came from and it's full of traditional Italian recipes for pastas and the sauces that accompany them. Some are beyond what I would want to take on at this point in my culinary career, but many are quite approachable (like this one). They all sound divine. This particular dish comes from the Northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige, where Germanic and Austrian culinary influences are evident, according to Louis. Hence, this is an Italian spätzli, but to me it is spätzle (or spaetzle), if only because I have a better idea of how to pronounce the latter word.

The spätzle is made from a dough that calls for 2 pounds (!) of spinach along with 4 eggs, 2 cups flour, and some salt and nutmeg. I used all the greens the CSA gave me this week (minus arugula and lettuce), which amounted to around 24 ounces before de-stemming. That included kale, kohlrabi greens, turnip greens, and radish greens.

To complete the dish I interpreted Louis's recipe for Spätzli with Sage and Speck, dressing the pasta with a basic sauce of butter, sage, bacon, salt, pepper, and Parmesan. The dumplings were tender, delicately flavored, and a perfect complement to the rich and salty sauce. In Jonathan's words, it was "restaurant-quality;" something I was excited to make, excited to eat, and excited to share. 

Spinach Spätzli (serves about 4) 

Adapted from here 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (or less, see above), fresh spinach (or whatever greens, see above), de-stemmed

• 4 eggs

• 1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated (I think this would be around 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, but I highly recommend grating whole nutmeg on a microplane)

• 1 tsp. kosher salt

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

• Prepare an ice bath for the greens in a large pot or bowl.

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

• Add the greens and blanch for about 2 minutes.

• Remove immediately and transfer to the ice bath.

• When cool drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible (by hand or in a towel). 

• In a food processor combine the greens, eggs, nutmeg, and salt and process for about 2 minutes until the spinach is broken up and mostly chopped (I actually did this in a blender since my food processor is small).

• Add the flour and process for about 4 minutes. The batter should be thick and smooth (I actually added the flour by hand, see above). If the batter is too thick add water 1 tsp. at a time.

• Transfer the batter to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. (I didn't oil my bowl, just let it rest in a the bowl I mixed in). 

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer over medium-high heat (I used the still-hot greens-cooking liquid!)

• Process the dough through a spätzle/spätzli maker or colander into the simmering water. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring to release any stuck spätzli. Remove with a strainer or pasta spoon and transfer to the baking sheet. Let cool to room temperature. Serve right away (see below). 

Spätzli with Sage and Bacon (originally Spätzli with Sage and Speck)

Adapted from here 

Ingredients (feel free to play with the proportions, these are really estimates of what I did)

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter

• 15 fresh sage leaves

• 7 slices bacon, cooked and sliced thin

• Salt

• Ground pepper

• Grated Parmesan

Directions

• In a large saute pan, heat the butter and sage until the butter melts and browns a little. (I did this in a same pan I had used to cook the bacon after draining the fat. Yes.) 

• Add the bacon and toss to coat.

• Remove from the heat and add the spätzli.

• Toss to combine.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Top with Parmesan cheese.